Maybe it is just luck ... but it seems rather consistent for all that. I type a response and post reply ... time out with all its attendant Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server blah blah blah ... but if I copy the post just before and then andwer from the 'quick reply' on the active topics list it is fine and goes through first time.
Made some changes to the database server which should help. The problem is very hard to diagnose and fix. As always, time will tell if its been resolved or not. Post here with the error message if it happens to any of you again.
I think that when I fixed the problem with the ports which caused this thread to be started in the first place I didn't anticipate that another obscure limit would affect the database server. These links and keywords are for my own use later in case I need to find them again; You must be logged in to see this link. You must be logged in to see this link.